Boycott a City Because of Rude Airport Workers?

I got a kick out of this letter in the Chicago Tribune today. It seems that Mr. Robichaud was so dismayed at the vendors and non-airline staff during his family’s trip through O’Hare that he has decided to boycott Chicago!

My wife and I have wanted to visit Chicago for quite some time and had even planned one trip, but due to unforeseen problems we had to cancel. Chicago always interested us and seemed alluring. But after the recent encounters with the people that work at O’Hare International Airport, we have changed our minds about visiting.

On our way home we had a layover there and eventually got bumped to the next day. The airline staff of United Airlines was very accommodating and extremely nice, but the restaurant workers and general staff of the airport were rude, short and cold. One female traffic control person was so rude my 14-year-old daughter was shocked at how she acted when we asked for directions trying to find the bus to the motel.

Our trip consisted of six airport stops — and only O’Hare disappointed. All the other cities’ airports were great. Maybe we’ll spend our tourism dollars in one of those, but definitely not Chicago!

–Jeff Robichaud, Algood, Tenn.

With six airport stops and an overnight bump at ORD, it seems like Mr. Robichaud may be a closet upgrd subscriber. What surprises me about his letter is the praise for United. Poor ‘ol UA does not get a lot of good press in Chicago, so I bet there will be some high-fives when Robin Urbanski, UA’s spokeswoman, sees this on Monday.

I’ve never had trouble with Chicagoans–they’ve always been friendly enough to me. But even if a rent-a-cop yelled at me when I asked for directions, I certainly would not boycott the city because of it! If I boycotted cities due to rude airport personnel, I would have to move away from Los Angeles. And don’t get me started on Russia…

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he
travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120
countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry
and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York
Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News,
CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying
international relations, American government, and later obtaining a
law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel
industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in
the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.
His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline
industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and
detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on
penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a
highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the
effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles.
Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of
points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the
direction and coordination of company travel.